Our contribution to the UNESCO list

Last year Ukraine had some more new reasons to be proud. The world recognized the uniqueness and the necessity of protecting wooden churches in western Ukraine, Chersonesus Taurica, and Petrykivka decorative painting

There are eight inimitable wooden temples in Ukraine: four in Lviv oblast, two in Ivano-Frankivsk and Transcarpathian oblasts each, and eight temples in Poland. They are Archangel Michael’s Cathedral in the village of Uzhok (1745) and the Church of Our Lord’s Ascension in Yasinia, Transcarpathia (1813-24); the Church of the Holy Virgin’s Nativity in Nyzhnii Verbizh (1808) and the Church of the Holy Ghost in Rohatyn, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast (1598); St. George’s Church in Drohobych (1670-78); the Holy Trinity Church in Zhovkva (1720), the Church of the Holy Ghost in Potelych (1502-1600), and the Holy Virgin Cathedral in Matkiv, Lviv oblast (1838-1902).

These temples present the Hutsul, Galician, and Boikiv types of architecture. It will be recalled that experts emphasizes in their comments on this cheering news that it is necessary to pursue a correct monument protection policy, obey the rules and apply techniques of restoration, and relieve the structures of our contemporaries’ disharmonic influence.

PETRYKIVKA DECORATIVE PAINTING

In December, the first Ukrainian object was put on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

It will be recalled that Petrykivka decorative painting derives from ancient wall painting and in-house ornamentation that was widespread in the 17th-century Dnipropetrovsk region, Podillia, and Bukovyna.

The newly-granted status makes it possible to count on international, including financial, support for safeguarding and developing Petrykivka painting.

“This should be made available to, first of all, the Petrykivka commune, for they own the right to this brand,” says Yevhen Udod, Chairman of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Council. From now on, Petrykivka must become a place for wide-scale cultural events.

THE ANCIENT CITY OF CHERSONESUS TAURICA AND ITS CHORA

The Crimean open-air museum is the peninsula’s first object to be put on the UNESCO Worldwide Heritage list. The entry includes not only the Ancient Greek city-state itself, but also its chora – the farming territory around it. Founded by settlers from Heraclea Pontica and the island of Delos in 528-527 B.C., Chersonesus Taurica existed for almost 2,000 years. A major political, economic, and cultural center in the region, it played a significant role in the development of many ancient peoples. Chersonesus got a new lease of life in 1827, the year of the first archeological excavations which have been in progress, with some pauses, until now. It hosts a research center – the National Preserve of Chersonesus Taurica. The center’s staff told The Day that now that the preserve is on the UNESCO list they expect investments to be made in the development of this object. Incidentally, last year Chersonesus Taurica became the most accessible museum on the peninsula.

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